Marco’s as I went tense, honestly not knowing how it would play out. I mean, Rhysand probably had some size on Marco—he was close to Atlas’s height—but Marco was also extremely protective over Maya… so I really didn’t think it would be a fair fight. Plus, that wasn’t even including if his dragon got out.
“Commander Moretti, you’re back,” he mused. He and his brothers were younger than Marco, the twins being Sai’s age and the oldest being only twenty, so there had always been a begrudging respect there. But this was different, and I think Marco knew that.
“We had some business to handle.” Marco looked relaxed and confident, and if it wasn’t for our flight bond, I wouldn’t even know how tense he was. I had a feeling that all of these men being around Maya, family or not, were really fucking with his dragon. I didn’t blame him. I felt like there were a lot of people wanting Maya’s attention, and I wasn’t fucking okay with that.
“With our little sister who has been missing for nearly two decades,” Gavriel tilted his head, watching our reaction.
“Gavriel, now is not the time.” Con offered him a look as he put his hands up and shook his head, his eyes darting past all of us to where Eleven was talking to her team. I almost smiled at that, but I figured that was an easy way to get fucking killed, so I decided against it. I was strong, but I wasn’t an alpha, and all of them had the capacity to be exactly that, no matter the position they served within their flight.
Mind you, I would fucking risk it if it meant keeping Maya safe, but I would probably just end up fucking slaughtered. Worth it, but a rather tragic end overall, especially since it appeared I had eternity with Maya coming my way.
Before anything else could be said, a bell rang overhead, signaling the start of dinner as I gently led Maya back to her seat, positioning her in the middle of all of us. Henry, Atlas, and Marco sat to one side, the rest of us on the other. I sat next to her and intertwined our fingers together, examining her expression, which appeared a bit excited and very thoughtful.
“What are you thinking about?” I asked quietly.
“None of this seems real,” she admitted hesitantly. “I just don’t understand how all of this existed, this entire section of my life… and I just wasn’t aware of it.”
“It was stolen from you, peanut,” I clarified quietly.
Her gaze met mine as she rested her head against my shoulder. “I don’t know how to handle any of this. I don’t know if I should just welcome them back into my life. I mean, I have no reason not to… this is just far more complicated than I could have ever guessed.”
“I don’t know what to tell you to do,” I admitted softly, wishing I was better at this. Honestly though, I was the last person anyone should ask about family shit. Even now I felt hesitant about looking around the room. I didn’t want to meet the gaze of the people who had made my life hell growing up, and I had absolutely no doubt they were here. I also had no doubt they would see Maya as an opportunity to get close to the crown through us. Fucking assholes.
Maya offered me a small smile, squeezing my hand as food was placed down in front of us. I could hear a slight commotion behind us, and when I turned, I found one of the twins attempting to convince Eleven to sit by them.
“Am I imagining it or is there—”
“There is very much something going on,” I agreed and flashed her a smile. “What do you think it is?”
“Well, I thought she hated them at first,” Maya mused, tilting her head. “Now I think it’s more complicated than that. I still don’t know why though.”
“Maya, you should eat,” Atlas reminded her from her other side. “I don’t think you’ve eaten anything today besides brunch.”
“We ate there,” Henry offered, his smile he flashed at Maya making her turn bright red. I shook my head and slung an arm around the back of her chair, playing lightly with her hair as she leaned into me.
“I’ll eat,” she offered to Atlas.
My dragon relaxed, making me realize he was concerned as well. That was unsurprising, though. I had always felt a strong sense of protectiveness over Maya. I also